Beirut: As Lebanon celebrates 70 years of independence on Friday, profound tensions cast a cloud over celebrations. Juvenile evaluations concluded that Lebanon was a failed state from its very inception, unaware of the significant contributions made by this country to the region and indeed the world at large, enduring internal divisions and overcoming external aggressions.
Seventy years after what were dramatic transformations that accorded petty tribal and clannish groups the legitimacy of a nation-state, Lebanon’s independence allowed its citizens, and many others who sought and found refuge in its tolerant environment, to prosper.
Few Lebanese, especially unpatriotic youth who pledged allegiance to foreign potentates, remember that the country’s per capita income—then the highest in the Arab East—went from less than $400 (Dh1,469) (adjusted to reflect inflation) per year in 1943 to over 9,190 (World Bank Data) in 2012.
Early on, the country boasted the lowest rate of illiteracy, as well the best-developed infrastructure, even if decades of war devastated it all. Even fewer appreciated that Lebanon remained, despite all, the only true democracy in the region where discrimination based on creed and religion was not tolerated even if its ugly practices gained credence in recent years.
How would future generations reap the fruits of their predecessors’ labour or, on the contrary, will they now prevent what was once the Switzerland of the Middle East to reclaim its glory days?
In the post-Ottoman era, when Britain and France signed their infamous Sykes-Picot Agreement in 1916, Syria came under French rule, ending an occupation that started in 1299. Paris expanded the borders of Mount Lebanon, predominantly inhabited by Maronites and Druzes, by incorporating the Biqa Valley, the Northern Akkar region, including the city of Tripoli, and Southern Lebanon. This new entity’s demography changed the nascent republic with the addition of loyal Muslim subjects.
With independence in 1943, men like Bisharah Al Khuri, Riad Al Sulh, Majid Arslan, Saib Salam and many others, settled on a unique power-sharing political system that granted each religious community undeniable rights. It was confessional par excellence but it was also patriotic, which is often forgotten nowadays, even if it was not ideal. French troops left in 1946 as the Lebanese confronted the first woes of their nation-building duties.
Internal Divisions and External Aggressions
Regrettably, and no matter how convoluted, the founding fathers failed to usher permanent political stability, preferring to focus on the creation of wealth and turn Beirut into a regional centre for finance and trade. This was a noble goal but one that neglected internal harmony. Gerrymandering all government posts along confessional lines, instead of empowering the best and the brightest to serve the young republic, kept internecine disputes alive, though significant external threats prevented progress.
Within four years later, Lebanon suffered the first repercussions of the creation of Israel in May 1948, when an estimated 100,000 Palestinian refugees arrived. Their return to their homes was blocked, though their actual numbers today was more than 500,000, half of whom still living in refugee camps. After 1967, 1970 and 1973, additional Palestinian refugees — and some freedom fighters from Jordan — relocated to Lebanon, increasing military resistance against Israel that inevitably led to fresh sectarian tensions when the Lebanese were still of different minds.
Ironically, and although the Lebanese remained at odds at home, they opened the country’s doors to countless Arab and Muslim dissidents, which was astounding to say the least. If the Society for Arab Revival (1906), the Young Turks (1908), the Lebanese Revival Movement (1908), Al Fatah (1909), the Reform Society of Basra, the Arab Revolutionary Society (1914) and others, flourished in Beirut before independence, the Palestine Arab Party, the Tadamun Al Akhawi, various Druze rebels, the Iraq Independence Party, the Arab Baath Movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, countless anti-Nasir opposition figures in Egypt, and many Gulf dissidents — Omani Revolution Council members, Iraqi and Iranian religious figures — and numerous others, found refuge in Lebanon. Few bother with these realities but no one should forget.
Of course, the bloody Civil War (1975-1990), which finally stopped after the 1989 Ta’if Accords, also failed to resolve intrinsic differences, though insult was added to injury as the country was subjected to Syrian and Israeli occupations. What could only be agreed upon was a new political parity, assumed to be permanent by some, while it seemed little more than temporary for others.
To be sure, and because of what could only be described as utter socio-political ugliness after 1975, the Lebanese lost all memories of what were incredibly sophisticated contributions their nation made to peace and security.
It was worth recalling for example that Charles Malik, a seasoned diplomat who represented Lebanon at the United Nations, helped to draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and who presided over the thirteenth session of the UN General Assembly in 1958, while numerous scientists, writers, and artists added significant value to humanity.
Of course, regional turmoil sank Lebanon into its current abyss, while sharp internal disputes over power sharing meant that determined local actors were anxious to impose new co-existence formulas. Hezbollah leaders in particular insisted that Lebanon must submit to foreign allegiances, dismissing the historical narrative that allowed the country to exist as an independent country after 1943.
Lebanon as a political entity was now endangered, lacking stability, with a challenged judiciary, and overwhelmed security institutions.In the absence of moderating influences, extremists threatened its independence as calls to divide the country gained credence.
Long before Beirut celebrated its diamond anniversary as an independent state in 2018, its citizens may well have to agree on its unity as a condition for survival and, perhaps, start thinking of true prosperity. Ending anti-patriotic stances may also help end the current stalemate.
